Published 9:14 pm, Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year anniversary celebration. less

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year ... more

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year anniversary celebration. less

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year ... more

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia helps Chelsea Piers Connecticut Executive Director Mollie Marcoux, center, and President David Tewksbury, right, cut a cake to commemorate the center's one year anniversary on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. less

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia helps Chelsea Piers Connecticut Executive Director Mollie Marcoux, center, and President David Tewksbury, right, cut a cake to commemorate the center's one year anniversary on ... more

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year anniversary celebration. less

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year ... more

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year anniversary celebration. less

Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia plays squash with U.S. National Champion Natalie Grainger at Chelsea Piers Connecticut on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Pavia took a tour of the facility as part of their one year ... more

When the owners of the former Clairol building on Stamford's Blachley Road announced plans for a sprawling Chelsea Piers sports complex nearly three years ago, Stamford officials celebrated, seeing it as a way to rehabilitate an abandoned property, expand the tax roll, provide jobs and attract more people to the city.

The 400,000-square-foot facility, which marked its first year in operation with a celebration on Tuesday, has succeeded in all those categories.

Offering a mix of sports from basketball to tennis to ice hockey to swimming, Chelsea Piers -- Stamford has exceeded the expectations of its executive director, Mollie Marcoux.

"It (membership) is almost double what we thought we'd have for the first year," Marcoux said, declining to discuss the target figure. "It was one of my best professional experiences seeing it come together and seeing people use it for the first time."

Chelsea Piers Connecticut employs more than 300 people, and the adjoining NBC Sports, which recently consolidated its operations and brought 500 workers from facilities in New York, Philadelphia and Stamford to the old Clairol property, have been a boon to the city's coffers.

Total annual real estate taxes for the parcel paid by Stamford Exit 9 LLC, the partnership of the three men, are over $900,000, and Chelsea Piers will pay more than $54,000 in personal property taxes this year, according to the city. NBC Sports' personal property taxes are still being determined.

"We took a pretty good risk in buying it, but we thought the buildings were in a good area and that we'd find tenants," Fowler said. "The bones were good, and it had tremendous parking near Exit 9 off I-95."

The new owners were proved right, striking gold when Chelsea Piers signed a long-term lease in October 2010, and a year later, NBC Sports announced it was moving to the complex.

`Amply rewarded'

"Chelsea Piers is all about families and development of kids through sports, and NBC Sports is a big nameplate with the leading state-of-the-art technology in the country," Fowler said. "We've met or exceeded our pro-forma. We've been amply rewarded for the risk we took."

"He didn't say a word, but he came back a couple months later," Fowler said, and only then did he know that the man on the tour was from NBC Sports.

Additional leases

Having NBC Sports in the building has stimulated interest in the remaining 170,000 square feet on the floor beneath the network's operation.

"We have one leased, signed and two others in serious discussion," Fowler said, declining to discuss the businesses. "They are businesses that would play off sports."

A few hundred feet away, management at Chelsea Piers has been pleased with how the region's residents have welcomed the facility.

Built at a cost of $50 million, Chelsea Piers Stamford has become a mecca for sports enthusiasts, teams and programs including the Greenwich Academy and CT/Mid-Fairfield Yankees ice hockey programs, the Skyliners Synchronized Skating team, Greenwich Water Polo, HTC & 4Goals Field Hockey, CFC Soccer and the Stanwich School.

"This was challenging because this was a start-up," Marcoux said. "When I first saw the building, I fell in love instantly because of the location and the nearby towns that are very sports oriented. Stamford is an amazing city that is growing quickly."

Marcoux, who got her start with Chelsea Piers 18 years ago, was general manager of its field house at the New York facility on the Hudson River and ran several programs there before coming to Stamford.

Marcoux saw the potential in the old Clairol factory building as soon as she toured it, but she saw what it could become while consulting with South Norwalk architect Jim Rogers and his staff, who designed the conversion of wharf buildings on the Hudson River in New York City into the first Chelsea Piers.

Top talent

Marcoux oversees a staff that includes Gigi Fernandez, 17-time Grand Slam tennis winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist; Natalie Grainger, squash director and the top female squash player in the nation; Caitlin Drap, who competed in the U.S. Triathlon Nationals; and Byron Knox, NCAA and USA gymnastics coach of the year in 2013 and 2012.

The arrival of NBC Sports has brought more business to Chelsea Piers, she said, commenting that many employees work out there, and some make use of the day care center.

"Every Thursday, they play open hockey as a group. They're reliving their hockey days," said Marcoux, adding that the environment encourages interaction. "It's such a great property. The location makes you feel like you're on a campus."

`Huge empty space'

It's far different than the period after Clairol left the property in 2010, said Laure Aubuchon, Stamford's director of economic development.

She said the size of the building where Chelsea Piers now resides made it difficult to imagine how it could be used.

"It was cavernous. It was a huge empty space with high ceilings. It was hard to get your head around what might go there," Aubuchon said.

Rogers used his experience from planning the New York location to design the Stamford facility, complete with its two hockey rinks, 12 squash courts, seven tennis courts, 14,000 square feet of gymnastics training space, a 100-yard indoor artificial turf field, a 12,000-square-foot adventure center and an Olympic-sized pool.

Procter & Gamble took care in maintaining the property, Aubuchon said, but the prospects of another entity using it as a manufacturing facility were dim.

`A frontier'

"It was a frontier," said Aubuchon, a New York City resident who is very familiar with the success of Chelsea Piers on the Hudson. "I whooped when I heard Chelsea Piers was interested. I was so excited about what it meant to Stamford. I knew how transformative Chelsea Piers has been on New York's West Side -- the Meat Packing District and Tribeca."

She predicted that Stamford's nearby commercial areas will feel the presence of Chelsea Piers and NBC Sports.

"You won't recognize the east side in 10 years," Aubuchon said.

The arrival of Chelsea Piers and NBC Sports has resulted in something that every economic development director wants, according to Aubuchon.

"It's an incredible diversification of our economy," she said.

`Under one roof'

NBC Sports' administrative offices and production operations, including six studios, are housed in the 320,000-square-foot space. The facility is the home of the Premier League soccer studio shows, as well as production of NHL Live, NHL Overtime, F1 Extra, Formula One Racing, Pro Football Talk and NBC Sports.com digital. Also, some college football studio programming will be done there.

The consolidation into one facility will streamline NBC Sports operations, improve efficiency and enhance communication, said John Fritsche, senior vice president of Olympic Operations Stamford Facility.

"Having everyone under one roof is spectacular. It's a new day for us. Before this, it was emails, teleconferences and trips on the train to New York City," he said.

Fritsche, a Long Island resident, commuted on a daily basis to NBC Sports' Olympics operations at Landmark Square in Stamford, so the commute remains basically the same. But many employees are now doing a reverse commute by train and taking a shuttle from and to the Stamford Transportation Center.

`Major, major thing'

"What a home run for us," Fritsche said, commenting that having Chelsea Piers next door is a plus. "We have a great relationship with Chelsea Piers."

Having Chelsea Piers and NBC Sports strengthens Stamford's brand name, and creates other business opportunities, according to Jack Condlin, president and CEO of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, who said NBC Sports has a growing presence in international hockey through its contract with the National Hockey League.

"This is a major, major thing for Stamford. It bodes well for Stamford," he said, crediting Fowler, Wise and Segalla for their ability to attract Chelsea Piers and NBC Sports. "What a great re-use of these buildings."

Like Aubuchon, he predicted that their arrival will create growth opportunities on the east side.

For area businesses, like nearby Pat's Hubba Hubba restaurant on Cove Road, the arrival of the two businesses has paid dividends.

"It's been a real good deal for us. We've seen a lot of new faces," said Lucio Campos, chef at Hubba Hubba.

Across Cove Road, Jimmy's Seaside restaurant also has experienced the benefits of the rebirth of the Clairol site, welcoming employees and Chelsea Piers clients.

"We do a lot of corporate business with NBC," said Danielle Larocque, a bartender at Jimmy's Seaside. "We get lots of teams from Chelsea Piers -- Frisbee teams and a lot of hockey teams. It's definitely brought business."